Rookie hurls gem

By WILL GRAVES
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 7, 2013;Last modified: October 7, 2013 11:22PM

PITTSBURGH — Rookie Michael Wacha took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals showed off their October poise, edging the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Monday and setting up a winner-take-all Game 5 in the NL division series.

The Cardinals tied this playoff matchup and improved to 7-1 over the last three years when facing elimination in the postseason.

Pedro Alvarez hit his third home run of the series, connecting with one out in the eighth for Pittsburgh’s only hit in Game 4.

Wacha, who came within an out of a no-hitter in his final start of the regular season, and the St. Louis bullpen made Matt Holliday’s two-run homer in the sixth stand up.

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Trevor Rosenthal worked around a two-out walk in the ninth, retiring Andrew McCutchen on a popup for his first postseason save.

Game 5 will be Wednesday in St. Louis, with ace Adam Wainwright starting for the NL Central champion Cardinals and rookie Gerrit Cole going for the wild-card Pirates. Both pitchers won last week in the NLDS.

The Cardinals finished with only three hits, and that was enough. Holliday got two of them, including his homer off Charlie Morton.

Wacha struck out nine and walked two. The 22-year-old righty didn’t permit a runner until walking Russell Martin leading off the sixth.

Wacha nearly no-hit the Washington Nationals in his last start on Sept. 24, surrendering only a single by Ryan Zimmerman with two outs in the ninth.

Working so quickly the Pirates never had time to get settled, he breezed through Pittsburgh’s revamped lineup like it he was in extended spring training, not a pressure-packed elimination game. Mixing his fastball and changeup masterfully, Wacha overwhelmed the Pirates from the moment he stepped onto the mound.

Dodgers 4, Braves 3: At Los Angeles, Juan Uribe hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning after Clayton Kershaw started on short rest for the Dodgers in a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night, sending Los Angeles into the National League championship series for the first time since 2009.

Yasiel Puig doubled down the right-field line leading off the eighth against losing pitcher David Carpenter. The rookie charged into second base and pumped his right fist in the air in celebration. Uribe fouled off two bunt attempts, then sent a 2-2 pitch into the Dodgers’ bullpen in left field to put them in front for the second time.

A’s 6, Tigers 3: At Detroit, Brandon Moss, Josh Reddick and Seth Smith homered for the Oakland Athletics, who chased Anibal Sanchez in the fifth inning and beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 on Monday for a 2-1 lead in their AL division series.

Moss broke a 3-all tie in the fifth with a solo shot, and Smith’s two-run drive later in the inning ended Sanchez’s day. It was an impressive offensive show after the teams split two tense, low-scoring games in Oakland.

Oakland can close out the series Tuesday.

Sanchez, the American League’s ERA leader, allowed six runs — five earned — and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings.

Jays 5, Red Sox 4: At St. Petersburg, Jose Lobaton hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays staved off elimination once again, beating the Boston Red Sox 5-4 Monday night.

The Rays cut Boston’s lead in the best-of-five AL division series to 2-1. Game 4 is Tuesday night.

Tampa Bay took a win-or-go-home game for the fourth time in nine days. The Rays did it with an unlikely stroke as Lobaton, who came off the bench late in the game, connected against Red Sox closer Koji Uehara.